Quotations Weblog

There is a lot of finger pointing going on. I’ve seen fingers pointed at the politicians in office that voted to forego the levee repair and strengthening. I’ve seen fingers pointed at President Bush for his apparent lack of empathy. I’ve seen fingers pointed at the war in Iraq blaming it for the lack of helicopters. I don’t see anyone pointing their fingers at themselves.

When Mike and I bought our first condo, we attended the yearly condo association budget meeting. The association was trying to raise condo fees to pay for the soon to be necessary improvements. The condos were over twenty years old. Some of the balconies were precarious. The swimming pool was in disrepair. The windows were aluminum frame and leaked air like they were screens. You’ve never seen an angrier bunch of retirees. They didn’t want to pay one penny more in condo fees and they were willing to argue and scream and threaten the board members.

We kept that condo for three years. We sold at the height of the market right before the Olympics and got top dollar for a condo with a rotting balcony. The president of the board resigned in frustration and the new board members adopted a strict, “Don’t fix it unless they threaten to sue” policy. We got out of there before it was obvious that things were falling apart all around us.

Mike and I took a drive through the condo park last week. They have replaced those dangerous balconies with cheap vinyl fencing that is neither aesthetic nor secure. The air of decay has set into that once lovely neighborhood all because the owners of the association didn’t want to raise the condo fees.

I suspect something similar happened in New Orleans. Politicians try their best to do what their constituents want. The fact that National Geographic was able to predict this disaster with such accuracy means that no one was really in the dark about the danger.

Before South Park came out on DVD, we were unable to watch it. Whatever channel it’s on was always unavailable to us. Plus, I don’t have much time to watch television on their schedule instead of my own. Once the series became available on DVD, I was able to see what everyone else was so excited about.

For years, all I heard about the series was how vulgar it was. The kind of people who talked to me about South Park this way refused to allow their children to watch it. While the rest of the kids had those strange little Kenny dolls, their kids were excluded. By the time I actually saw the series, I realized that all of those parents were letting the fart jokes get in the way of the true morals of the stories.

Here are some of the best quotes I’ve gathered from the series:

I love South Park. Every time I watch an episode, I sit nearby with a pen and paper so I can get the tidbits of wisdom that are taught with humor and vulgarity. So what if they have a talking piece of poo. Even Shakespeare had his Sir Toby Belch.

• See all the South Park Quotations here.

I just finished a book called Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. It’s a young adult science fiction book and I found it entirely enjoyable. The book is based on hard sci-fi, but the concepts are explained well enough that it easy to understand.

The heroine, Tally, is about to turn sixteen. When she does, she will undergo a series of surgeries to make her “pretty” because right now, she’s “ugly” just like every other child under sixteen. Everyone gets to turn pretty at their sixteenth birthday. Peris, her friend, already turned pretty a month ago and she is dying to join him on the other side of the river…

Here are the quotes that I was able to glean from this book:

For a full review of this book, see my book review:

• Pick Me! – Uglies by Scott Westerfeld – Book Review

Today the US celebrates the end of the Labor Day weekend. I’d like to pretend that I have something wise and insightful to say about the state of labor in today’s world, both as a political movement and as an essential and timeless part of the human condition, but I’m actually rather looking forward to a day off, so I’m going to post a few quotations with the word “labor” in them instead.

Have a good holiday, and don’t forget to do what you can for those affected by last week’s hurricane.

After the devastation of Hurricane Katarina, I have heard a lot of talk about what to do to help the victims. President Bush is promising that “a lot of help is coming.” A lot of help is really nice, but I feel overwhelmed by trying to think of all that needs to be done to help the victims down there.

One small difference after another is something that I can tackle.

• American Red Cross – Donate to the Disaster Relief Fund

It doesn’t take a lot of money from you to help these people. It takes a little bit of money from a lot of people. Be one of those people right now. Even one dollar is plenty if enough of us give.

Other ways to help during this crisis:

• If you live near Houston, Texas, the animal shelters there are housing the few animals that the shelter in New Orleans was able to save. Please adopt one of these animals.

• If you were planning on a long drive over the Labor Day weekend, reconsider staying at home. Many of the oil drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico were damaged. Conservation begins with us.

What other things can we do to help the victims of Hurrican Katarina? Post them here on the comments. It’s up to you to make that one small difference today.